Personality Characteristics of Syllabus‐bound and Syllabus‐free Sixth‐formers

Abstract

SUMMARY. 218 upper sixth-formers at three West Riding schools were given a battery of tests and questionnaires designed to investigate relationships between personality and syllabus-boundness/syllabus-freedom. A 204 tern inventory was developed and used to isolate groups of 28 sylbs and 31 sylfs. In terms of Cattell's 16PF, the sylbs were found to be significantly more conservative, controlled, conscielitious and persistent, shy and cautious, and practical, and somewhat more sober, apprehensive, and group dependent. The sylbs were also found to be more dogmatic on Rokeach's scale and the suggestion is made that sylbism may be an aspect of dogmatism. In conirast to previous research, no evidence was found to link syllabus-orientation to convergence/divergence. Sylbs were found to be more conscientious in their study habits and to do better in 0-level examinations.I NTROD UCTJON A NUMBER of recent studies have investigated relationships between personality factors, study methods, and academic motivation and attainment. Entwistle (1972Entwistle ( , 1973 has provided thorough analyses of the main directions of these studies, and he and other researchers have indicated that a useful conceptualisation has emerged from what are known as the syllabus-bound and syllabusfree orientations.The terms ' syllabus-bound ' and ' syllabus-free ' seem to have been first employed by Hudson in Frames of Mind (1968). The former was applied to those who " bend their wits almost exclusively to getting good examination marks " and who " accept the restrictions that a syllabus imposes " ; the latter term was used to describe those who " focus on the syllabus only with difficulty and have intellectual interests that range far beyond i t " and who " resent 01 ignore " the restrictions of a syllabus. Hudson used the convenient abbreviations ' sylb ' and 'sylf' to describe the contrasting personalities and these terms are used here ; so too are ' sylbism ' and ' sylfism ' to refer to the constructs involved. Hudson's (1968) interest in sylbs and sylfs was really a digression from his main concern which was with convergers and divergers. He found a close relationship between convergence and sylbism, and divergence and sylfism.In Frames of Mind, Hudson acknowledged his debt to Parlett with whom he had worked on sylbs and sylfs. Parlett (1970) in a study of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that sylbs were " more orientated towards exams than other students and less likely to be governed by strong personal interests and commitments." Parlett also made classroom studies and found that sylbs attended more sessions, completed more homework, were more likely to sit at the front of the class, did better in examinations (although not significantly so), but were less successful when individual projects were pursued. He also found evidence linking sylbism with convergence, and sylfism with divergence.While reluctant to draw firm conclusions, Parlett suggested : " What is certain at this stage is that, while some students operat...

Choice of Science Courses in Secondary School: Trends and Explanations

“…Parlett (1970) has described 'syllabus-bound' students (sylbs) who are commonly found in scientific disciplines and has contrasted them with students who are 'syllabus-free' (sylfs). Josephs and Smithers (1975) pointed out important differences in dogmatism between 'sylbs' and 'sylfs', while Entwistle, Thompson, and Wilson (1974) link Parlett's findings with Biggs' study factors (1970; and their own findings. In the most recent work on learning styles, Svensson (1976) has drawn parallels between Biggs' work and Marton and Saljo's (1976) 'deep' and 'surface' levels of reading text-books, while Pask (1976) finds links between his 'holist' and 'serialist' categories of learning strategy and Witkin's cognitive styles.…”

Factors affecting achievement in the University of Cambridge GCE A‐level geography examination

“…All item-to-total score correlations were significant at the 0.001 level, and the Cronbach alpha coefficient of reliability was 0.92. SYLBISM was measured according to Josephs and Smithers' (1975) inventory, the odd-even reliability of which was calculated and stepped up using the Spearman Brown formula to give an estimate of 0.66. Within the school influence dimension were school resources (SCHRES), a teacher profile (TPROF), teaching style (TSTYLE) and the number of fieldwork days undertaken (FIELD WDS).…”

Reliability and Validity of the Student Stress Inventory (Sixth Form Version)

“…Levenson's instrument gives separate scores for Control (I), Powerful Others (P), and Chance (C). In addition subjects completed the sylbism scale (Josephs and Smithers, 1975) to determine whether differential stress levels could be detected among ' syllabus-bound ' compared to ' syllabus-free ' students. Of the sample, 53 girls and 44 boys completed the Student Stress Inventory for a second time between 7 and 14 days later.…”